Looking For Lupin
by ElizaSchorn
Summary: Anna, Donna, and Ari all went to school with Remus Lupin. They are busy with their own families, but are desperate to find out what happened to their old classmate. Especially now that they know exactly what he is. Set in Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"So, do we want to play a game?" Anna asked, sitting down on the floor by the fireplace. Her friend Donna looked up and grinned.

"How about Truth or Dare?" she asked innocently. Katherine rolled her eyes trying not

to laugh. "Oh come on, Donna. What, are we seventeen again instead of thirty-eight?"

"It could be fun." Donna insisted.

"Yeah, let's do it," put in Anna "I haven't played this in years." They all looked around at Ari. She sighed. "Oh, fine, but don't tell my son or I'll never hear the end of it."

Ari's son was the kind of boy to take any and all dares that came his way regardless of danger. Ari was exasperated with him, but she always felt like a hypocrite when she had to scold him about something. After all, she used to play plenty of her own pranks along side the Marauders at Hogwarts. Pushing the memories aside for now, Ari plopped down on the hearthrug next to Anna.

"Alright," Anna said. "Katherine, you're first and we'll go clockwise." Kate nodded resignedly. "Truth of Dare?" demanded Anna.

"Truth."

Anna glanced at Donna, who leaned forward curiously "I wondered about something a few days ago; Does your niece have a crush or _what_ on Harry?"

Katherine snorted. "Yes, Romilda does. And crush isn't really it. I'm afraid she pesters him to no end at school." They all laughed.

"Ari, your turn."

"Um, Dare?"

Anna grinned, "Turn your hair electric blue for one week."

"What!?!" Ari shrieked "I'm way too old for that! Besides, can you imagine the look on Aaron's face when I come home?"

"Okay, okay," said Anna, laughing "Three days." Ari narrowed her eyes, then sighed,

"Alrighty then, here goes." And with a wave of her wand, her hair turned a vivid blue.

The game went on with Ari in turn, telling Anna to dye her hair green(" It'll be fine for you" said Ari smugly " you're always doing crazy things anyway."), a secret recipe revealed to a triumphant Katherine with Ari looking peeved now, and Katherine having to put purple streaks in _her_ hair.

"Good thing I don't have kids either." she observed, looking in a mirror.

"Well you and Anna might not. "grumbled Ari.

"Hey, I don't either," reminded Donna "you're the only one who got married come to think of it."

"Yes, well, who's the next victim?" Anna pointed. "Donna."

Katherine suddenly sat up straight and scrutinized Donna. "I have a question."

Donna raised an eyebrow. "Something important?"

"Well, don't know," Katherine said slowly "but I just remembered…In sixth year. You never told us why you broke up with Remus Lupin."

Donna paled slightly. The other women leaned forward expectantly.

"You all know that I used to have problems when we were in Hogwarts, right?"

"If you mean your inexplicable fear of anything remotely connected with the Dark Arts?" queried Katherine. Donna nodded and Anna spoke up sounding confused,

"But you're over that now, what does that have to do with Remus?"

Donna took a deep breath and looked Anna in the eye "Because," she said quietly, "Remus was a werewolf."

Dead silence reigned in the room for several seconds. Ari had knocked her drink over, Katherine looked thunderstruck, and Donna looked rather shamefaced. Anna just sighed. "I already knew that, actually." she said softly Katherine swiveled her head around to stare at Anna in disbelief.

"You knew that Remus was a werewolf?!" Anna nodded jerkily. Even Donna looked surprised. "How…?" she whispered.

Anna sighed "After Donna had broken up with him, I found him in the Owlery and told him that I had figured it out too. I told him not to be too upset because I didn't have a problem with it and Donna was just going through a rough time."

"I know I must have hurt Remus," Donna said nervously "but I was only sixteen! I was scared!" she added defensively.

"I wonder why he was in the Owlery," Katherine said thoughtfully.

"Because no one hardly ever comes up there during the day." Anna said significantly.

Donna looked up confused. Anna looked at her seriously "He was crying."

Donna bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "Poor Remus." She looked like she was going to cry herself. Katherine glanced around the group. "Let's… let's talk about something else." she said hesitantly. "I half wished I hadn't asked" she muttered to herself.

The game resumed, but the girls were too shocked by Donna's revelation that no one was concentrating on what they were saying and they all ended up going to bed early.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The four women were sitting at the table next morning, silently eating breakfast, each of them wrapped in their own thoughts of past school days. Donna broke the silence first.

"If I had one wish," she said "I'd want to at least explain to Remus why I couldn't see him anymore; instead of running away from him like he was a Death Eater."

Ari sighed. "Yeah, I'd feel the same way too. Although, if I had one wish, I'd ask for all strife to cease. Including the grudge matches between my son and the neighbor's daughter." she added chuckling.

"I'd ask for a better Minister of Magic." put in Katherine wearily "Fudge is still having none of the common sense Kingsley and I have been trying to disperse whenever we run into him. He's very much settled on the idea that Sirius is guilty no matter what information he's given otherwise." Katherine scooted her eggs around on her plate, looking annoyed.

"What about you, Anna?" asked Ari.

Anna was quiet for a long minute. Then she said, very softly, "Sirius."

Everyone looked up at Anna in surprise. Donna smiled slightly. "Care to repeat that for us?" she asked slyly.

Anna looked at them with a sad smile. "Oh, you all heard that."

Katherine's brow furrowed as she said, "Yes, we did. But I don't think Ari and I understand it." she paused and glanced at Donna who was smiling in a triumphant sort of way. "Except Donna for whatever reason." she finished.

Donna tossed her head "I know where Anna's secrets are buried." she said mysteriously. Ari snorted, but she was grinning and Ari seemed to realize something.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Anna! Did you intentionally wait until he was thrown in prison to admit you liked him?"

Anna glared at Ari and Katherine, who was now smirking to, having caught on to the story.

"No, I did not! And anyway that's beside the point. First of all, he is not in Azkaban, as all of you very well know, but on the run from the incompetent Ministry- No offense Katherine-; second of all, I might add that I know how he's doing it…" Katherine looked raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh you needn't sneer, Katherine!" Anna said superiorly.

"And anyway," interrupted Donna "She doesn't just like Sirius…" The other women looked confused. "…I do believe she's in love with him. Always has been, haven't you, Anna?"

Anna started humming tunelessly and went to get more e orange juice. Ari and Katherine stared at her in disbelief for almost a full minute. Finally Ari exclaimed, looking from Anna to Donna and back again, "You're joking, right?"

Anna slowly turned to face them all. She had a sort of half smile on her face ad she said, "No, neither Donna nor I am joking." When they continued to look thunderstruck, she sighed again and sat down on the corner of the table. " I'm a bit like Lily in this regard," she started "you all know, of course, how Sirius would chase after me in school and would steadfastly ignore him to the best of my abilities, right?" The others all laughed. They did indeed remember this.

Anna continued, "Like Lily, when James was running after her, I was just waiting for Sirius to grow up a bit; if he ever did." More laughing at this. "Well, you girls know too that in our seventh year, my parents got transferred to France and I had to go with them. When I finally managed to get back, nearly five years later, it seemed that the Marauders had all gone to hell in a hand basket." The others were hushed now, knowing what turn this story was going to take.

Anna continued bitterly "Lily and James were dead, Harry had survived somehow but he had disappeared. Remus had also vanished, Peter was widely believed to be dead, and Sirius was being blamed for all of it." she scowled, running a hand roughly through her hair "And I never got to tell him how much he really did matter to me. Should have done in sixth year."

Everyone was still for a minute, reflecting. Then Katherine spoke up. "How is he evading the Ministry though?"

Anna looked around the room quickly and got up to shut a window that was open. She sat back down in a chair smiling to herself. "The main reason" she began "Is that the Ministry is looking for a wizard. A very well known wizard whose face has been splashed across thousands of newspapers worldwide."

"Yes, yes, we know that." interrupted Katherine impatiently "But what…

"Sshh!" said the others.

Anna continued as if there had been no interruption "They're looking for an extremely well known wizard." she reiterated "They're not looking for a big black dog."

Donna an Ari looked at each other and shrugged helplessly. They had no idea what Anna was talking about. But Katherine did. Clapping a hand to her mouth, her eyes grew wide. "Merlin's beard," she whispered, bringing her hand down "He's an Animagus?!"

Anna nodded, "Yes."

"But that's impossible!" Ari exclaimed "He's had absolutely no time to work on magic like that!"

"Wait a second," Katherine said excitedly "Anna already knew this beforehand I think..." she looked at Anna, who nodded again.

"Remus told me that day in the Owlery."

Donna nearly fell out of her chair in astonishment. "You mean he became an Animagus while he was at _school_?"

Anna grinned "Yes, in fifth year too. And" she added carelessly "So did James. And Peter of course." she scowled.

"What did they turn into?" asked Donna weakly. Anna thought for a moment.

"Sirius could transform into a big dog, as I just mentioned, James was a stag, and Peter was, appropriately, a rat."

Katherine sat up with a start "Of course!" she said loudly "Those ridiculous nicknames! Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

"Why?" Ari asked, a bit dazedly, of Anna.

"For Remus." Anna replied simply. "So they could help him through his transformations each month. Werewolves are only a danger to people, not animals." she reminded them.

Silence stole over the kitchen again for several minutes, each of the women wrapped in their own memories and realizations of unexplained occurrences during Hogwarts. Eventually, Donna looked up at Anna. "Where is he then?"

Anna smiled sadly "If I knew that, do you think I'd be sitting here?"

"Well, or course I know you don't know where Sirius is" said Donna quickly "But what about Remus?"

"Same answer, really."

Donna seemed to suddenly have trouble speaking. Katherine ran her hands over her face with a heavy sigh. Ari, however, had and odd look on her face. "We'll just have to go find them then, won't we?"

Donna gave Ari an incredulous look. "Ari, none of us has the slightest idea where Remus is, let alone Sirius!"

"I don't know, Donna" said Katherine slowly "Do you remember that conversation in sixth year with the Marauders?"

"Which one?" Donna asked, confused.

"The one where Sirius said that the best way to hide was in plain sight!" interrupted Anna elatedly.

"Exactly!" said Katherine "So that means that both of them could still be in England!"

But of course they're still in England, Katherine!" Anna said, practically bouncing in her seat "There's still Harry to consider. I don't believe either Sirius or Remus would leave him behind for anything."

"And then there's Pettigrew too," Katherine said, with an ugly look "And if I know Sirius, he isn't going to rest until that traitor is brought to justice. Anyway, Peter was never very clever." she added scornfully "I'm willing to bet my job that he's still in the country; probably as someone's pet."

"Murderer." Ari hissed angrily "He would do something like that. The poor family, wherever they are."

Anna stood up purposefully "We are going to have to think of places that Sirius and Remus would be. And we need to find people that might happen to have seen them and not have known who it was."

Donna grimaced. "Sounds like we'll be at this a while."

"Well," Anna said, smiling faintly "There's one place we should look first for Remus. I can almost guarantee that where we find Remus, Sirius won't be far behind."

"And where is this place?" asked Donna skeptically.

Anna grimaced now. "Knockturn Alley!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Anna was getting annoyed.

She and the rest of the girls were in Diagon Alley discreetly asking around for clues concerning Remus. None of them had had much luck in this endeavor, but in the past half hour or so Anna and Donna had come upon someone they suspected knew more than what he was letting on.

The two women were in Eeylops Emporium of all places, talking to the owner. Or rather, talking at him. The man was being deliberately unhelpful. When Anna and Donna had first walked in to his store, he had been all smiles and cheerfulness, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and wondering if they were looking for a tawny owl perhaps? Or a snow white one? Or a brown one? Or possibly the new red color! They were extremely affordable and… At this point, they interrupted him, seeing that he might go on all day if allowed. However, the instant Anna mentioned the name "Remus Lupin", he had clamped his mouth shut and stared at them as if they were mad.

Ignoring the man's expression of amazement, Donna had described Remus as he had looked at Lily and James's wedding, that being the last time she had seen him. They both knew that he could not possibly look like that for over twelve years but they were hoping someone might have seen him and realize that he fit their description slightly.

If they thought that this portrayal would jump start Mr. Eeylops memory, it appeared they were correct, but the problem now was that he wouldn't tell them anything. And Donna thought she knew why. Seeing that Anna was on her last nerve, she leaned slightly over the counter they had been non-conversing across and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"I can tell you've seen or heard tell of him, Mr. Eeylops. And you don't need to worry about anything; we already know he's a werewolf."

The man's eyes widened significantly and he glanced around nervously, as if by merely talking about werewolves, one would suddenly fly through the window. Donna pressed on. "Even if you can't tell exactly where he is, could you at least point us in the direction of someone who can?" The owner remained silent and bit his lip. "For the love of Merlin, it's important!" Donna added angrily, beginning to be annoyed herself.

Me. Eeylops violently twisted a piece of cloth he was holding and took a deep breath.

"It's not that I can't tell you," he said finally " but the last couple times I gave directions to people for the way down there, they got a bit more trouble than they could handle. Ministry wizards too, they were."

"Down where?" Anna asked exasperated. Mr. Eeylops swallowed hard and looked despairingly at the two of them.

"You'll find other ways, I suppose, if I don't tell you?" he muttered rhetorically "Very well, very well. On your own heads be it! Knockturn Alley," he began, and Anna and Donna looked at each other. They had been expecting that. "It's in Knockturn Alley and you'll have to go all the way through. Once you've traveled the length of it, you come to a pub called The Moon. You have to walk into that and out the back door. Once you're out that back door…" Mr. Eeylops shivered "You'll find what you are looking for, but you are going to have to be really careful about it. The slightest mistake…" he trailed off.

"You've actually seen it?" Donna asked in some surprise.

"Only once, a long time ago." He looked frightened at the very thought. "It's not a good place, not at all. The "people" that live there don't have an ounce of self-control and no conscience. They're all part-humans and they're all lawless. I'm begging you, don't go if you know what's good for you!"

"Well, we're going, Eeylops." Anna stated firmly. "Remus is our friend and if knew him at all at Hogwarts…"

"…he just lives there because there is no other place that will take him!" Donna finished heatedly. Anna nodded in agreement and turned to the owner.

"Thank you for you help, Mr. Eeylops," she said "We'll introduce you properly to Remus when we find him. He's really a very good person."

Mr. Eeylops shook his head, still twisting the towel and looking as if Remus Lupin was the last person on earth he wanted to meet. "People change, ma'am. He could be a lot different now." He gazed at them shrewdly. "And there is no guarantee that you will find him at all."

Anna and Donna both laughed and Donna said, "Mr. Eeylops, when Remus hears that someone besides the stupid Ministry is looking for him, I don't think we'll have any trouble finding him."

"And as for him changing," said Anna, swinging her purse over her shoulder and preparing to walk out the door, "that's a given, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"But you're friend is a werewolf!" cried Eeylops, "He lives with other werewolves! And if he hears that you two are looking for him, they will almost certainly hear of it too! And in the rare occurrence that he is the same as he was some fifteen years ago, the company he keeps will not think like that!"

Donna shrugged and followed Anna out of the shop. Mr. Eeylops ran after them. "You can't be serious." he said, aghast. "You're actually going?!"

"Yes!!" both Anna and Donna said at the same time.

Eeylops threw his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "Fine. Fine! But for the last time, I'm warning you: don't go! You have no idea of what kind of danger you are walking into!"

Anna looked at him standing there, twisting that towel again. "We know what we're getting ourselves into, ." she said bracingly "And we'll be back, mark my words."

"Good-day, Mr. Eeylops." Donna said and they turned to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron. Mr. Eeylops stared after them, amazed.

"Good-bye." he whispered wearily, and went back to his work, shaking his head.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

That evening, Anna, Donna, Ari, and Katherine sat around the table again in Anna's kitchen. Anna and Donna were telling the other two everything they had found out about Remus's possible whereabouts. Ari and Katherine were slightly miffed that they hadn't found anything first; especially Katherine, who worked in the Auror Department in the Ministry. Ari seemed to be out of sorts about something else too, but when Donna asked her if everything was alright, she just shook her head and pressed her lips together, staring at the teapot with an unreadable expression.

Shrugging, Donna resumed her narrative and observed, "And you know, Mr. Eeylops was really almost unreasonably worried about it all."

Anna sighed, "Of course he was. Nobody trusts part-humans at all anymore."

"You have to admit, though, Anna, that part-humans aren't exactly giving us scads of reasons to welcome them with open arms." commented Katherine wryly "It's a vicious cycle."

"It's vicious alright!" burst out Ari suddenly. And yanking a rumpled newspaper out of her pocket, she threw it on the table, grinding out, "Look at this. This is this morning's paper. None of us even glanced at it earlier, we were so absorbed with finding Remus."

Donna snatched it up, reading quickly. When she looked up again, there was a look of dawning horror on her face. "It's happening again." she said "Greyback is attacking people again."

"What!?!" shouted Katherine jumping up and grabbing the article from Donna.

"It gets worse." said Ari grimly "Read further, Katherine."

Katherine scanned down the page, muttering something about Kingsley never telling her anything. Donna and Anna peered over her shoulder. Suddenly, they all stopped reading and gazed at each other in shock.

"Children." Anna said in disbelief. "He's attacking _children_."

Donna sank back down into her seat, now trembling in helpless fury. "What in the name of Albus Dumbledore does that coward think he's doing, attacking kids?"

"He's trying to turn them." replied Ari bleakly "The article says that those three kids were barely four years old. If they're bitten at that age and grow up away from the families that might actually still care about them, they'll learn to hate wizards."

"Yeah, especially if Greyback is feeding them lies about how horrible their parents were and that their families threw them out." said Anna angrily.

The room was very quiet for several seconds, the four of them stewing about the whole awful business.

"But they might decide to not hate wizards, right?" said Anna quietly, breaking the silence.

Katherine smiled mirthlessly, shaking her head slowly. "By the time they can think for themselves, they'll have been listening to that monster's lies for more than ten years. Is it probable that they'll make their own choices? Yes, maybe. But possible? I don't know."

"It was possible for Remus." said Donna "But then, he had his parents to look after him and he went to school with wizards. He _is_ a wizard." she added firmly.

"Anyway," put in Katherine "Remus never hated us, or anyone else for that matter. I mean, at Hogwarts, he had three friends that knew of his "problem", he dated Donna, and he was a prefect too!"

"Exactly!" said Anna bracingly "And he wasn't a bully at all; not like James and Sirius were for a while. If anything, he was very protective of the younger students. Didn't get much involved in duels either."

"Ari laughed nervously "Remus? Dueling? Come on."

Anna smiled. "You get my point. And Donna, weren't you explaining where we are going?" she added realizing they had been knocked off track by Ari's news.

"Oh! Right." Quickly, Donna outlined where they would all have to go in order to find people who didn't want to be found; while Ari and Katherine looked more and more apprehensive.

"A place behind Knockturn Alley?" Ari asked uncertainly "Are you sure?"

Anna was about to answer that she didn't know, not positively, but Katherine interrupted, "Yes, it exists." she said quickly "Kingsley had to visit that area once a couple years back. He bit off a lot more than he could chew and Dawlish had to bail him out. One of the very few times Kingsley has ever had a problem with a mission."

Anna and Donna looked at each other and Anna said, "I guess that's who Mr. Eeylops meant when he mentioned that wizards had asked him for directions before."

"Anyhow," resumed Donna "That is where Mr. Eeylops told us to look and I for one want to find Remus as soon as possible."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" said Ari "We should probably make out a list of things to take with us, and…"

"Wait a moment," said Katherine "I know you all managed to get vacation time this week, but the Minister is calling in all of us Aurors lately. This ridiculous "hunt" for Sirius." she reminded them when the other women looked at her blankly.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Katherine, not to endanger your job or anything, but has it occurred to you that a few made up leads could point the Minister in a direction safest for Sirius?"

Katherine grinned "It has. To Kingsley, as a matter of fact. He's been giving Fudge the information that Sirius is in Albania. The last place in the world he would actually be in."

Ari hesitated then asked, "Let's not get off the subject at hand, but why is Kingsley protecting Sirius?"

"Dumbledore." Katherine said simply. "He confided in me that he is now a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore apparently asked him to sow a little misinformation."

"Ah."

"So, with the exception of Katherine, are we all going?" asked Anna.

Donna and Ari nodded fervently. "I think I can leave Rueben to deal with Alex for a few days," chuckled Ari, wondering what her husband's reaction to this trip was going to be.

"Alright, getting back to this hunt for Remus," Anna said briskly "We will most likely not bring that much, but I am strongly recommending that we wear our long, black cloaks and keep the hoods up whenever we are outside. Anonymity is a wonderful thing sometimes." she added thoughtfully."

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I at least need to get a good night's sleep before work tomorrow." said Katherine, standing up and yawning widely.

The other three glanced up at the clock and jumped in surprise. It was close to midnight. Hurriedly, Anna went to get Ari and Katherine's coats as they cleared up the teacups on the table. Katherine and Ari said goodbye to Anna and left for their own homes.

Donna, who would be staying at Anna's, plopped down in the living room and stared at the row of pictures lining the mantel piece. Her gaze settled longest on one of the four Marauders; the ones whose lives had all been ruined. Sirius was lounging on the edge of the picture, looking attractively bored as usual. Peter- Donna repressed a shiver- was standing uncertainly between Sirius and Remus. Remus was standing next to James, who was attempting to mess up Remus's hair. The two were wrestling around, James laughing fit to burst and Remus looking both annoyed and amused at the same time.

Donna smiled sadly as she stared at the photo. "We're coming to find you Remus," she promised, whispering, "So just stay put wherever you are."

* * *

"Lupin**!"** Derrick roared up the stairs "Are you comin' or not?"

In his room, Remus frowned at his book and shouted back, "No, Derrick!"

At this answer, the other werewolf came stumping up the stairs, stopping in Remus's doorway and glowering at him. "Fenrir's not goin' ter be happy," he growled warningly.

"Fenrir's never happy." Remus replied shortly.

"Sure 'e is; when you do wot yer told."

Remus looked up from his book wearily. "How many times am I going to have to tell you –and him- that I cannot and will not follow that path?" Remus spoke calmly enough, but there was an undercurrent of anger in his voice which Derrick did not miss. He sneered.

"Still think you're bein' a bleeding 'ero or somthin' do you?" Remus ignored him and went back to his book.

"Come on, Lupin," Derrick snarled "Look around! I don't see no one clappin'. We're werewolves. Nobody but nobody trusts us, especially wizards, and I sure as hell don't trust them."

"I do." said Remus quietly. Derrick gave harsh laugh.

"You mean you did." He smirked "But they threw you out, didn't they? That's why you're here after all yer fine ed-oo-ca-tion."

"No," Remus saddened "They died. In reality and…" his face darkened "…memory."

"Whatever, I'm goin'."

"I won't wish you luck then." Remus said sarcastically bitter. "And I can't stop you, unfortunately."

Derrick had disappeared around the corner, but at Remus's words, he poked his head back around and grinned evilly. "Read the paper this mornin', have you? You know Fenrir's bringing the kids over tonight. I'll have to make sure I teach 'em everything I know, won't I?" He put on a mock concerned expression.

Remus's control broke.** "GET OUT!"** he roared, standing up with his wand out, pointing it straight at Derrick. Derrick paled slightly. It was commonly known throughout the colony that Remus was able to manipulate magic better than the rest of them. It was for this reason mainly that Remus was left alone. The rest of the colony knew nothing whatever about magic.

"Fine. I'll go." Derrick growled "But Fenrir ain't finished with you yet, he ain't, mark my words!" He left the doorway and went down the hall, where he could be heard to clunk loudly down the stairs. A back door slammed and all was quiet once more.

Remus pointed his wand listlessly at the floor and sank down into the chair again. The book he had been reading had fallen to the floor when he had jumped up, but he made no move to pick it up. Instead, he picked up a picture sitting in a frame on the side table. It was picture of people he had known at Hogwarts. His friends the "Marauders" and several girls who had done their best to imitate them. Reaching out and touching the picture, he smiled wistfully. He thought he had been forgotten long ago. He couldn't have been more wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N… I really need to remember these disclaimers, or I'm going to be kicked off the site. I do not own any recognizable characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling, without whom, we would not have Harry Potter, and without whom, none of us would ever have cried for an hour over Sirius Black's untimely demise. Not to mention, Albus, Remus, Fred, Tonks…._

CHAPTER FIVE

The next day, having safely navigated the length of Knockturn Alley, Anna, Ari, and Donna finally came to a stop in front of The Moon. It was every bit as unwelcome looking as they had expected and collective shudder went through them as the women peered cautiously in the windows. The scene inside was exceedingly loud and rambunctious; more than a few chairs came flying past their line of vision. Taking a deep breath, Anna straightened up, nodded to the others and pushed open the door to the pub.

Ari and Donna followed her in and immediately, they all clapped a hand over their faces. The room was definitely overcrowded and reeked of things undefined. Not that any of them wanted definitions. Slowly and regretfully, the three of them brought their hands away from their faces and pulled their cloaks on more securely. The hoods helped, if only slightly, with blocking out the horrible mixture of smells. The only disadvantage was that they also acted as "blinkers" and made peripheral vision obsolete. Anna led the way across the floor towards a small group of chairs that hadn't been broken yet. She attempted to look as intimidating as possible, but when she whispered that the other two should probably do the same, Ari stifled a laugh. "Actually, Anna," she whispered back "I'm thinking that we are already as intimidating as we're going to get."

Anna merely looked confused but Ari just pushed her the rest of the way to the chairs. The three of them sat down and leaned toward each other so they wouldn't be overheard. Immediately upon settling, Anna hissed "What you mean?" at Ari, and it was Donna's turn to look confused, as she hadn't heard what Ari had said. Ari leaned closer and said quietly "I said that we're as intimidating as we're going to get because with these cloaks," she waved her hand at them and smirking slightly "we look like a group of Death Eaters."

Anna looked somewhat apprehensive "Oh. Well, that's all very good but if that's true, I don't want us attracting the wrong crowd of people."

"Yeah, such as actual Death Eaters." put in Donna.

Ari jerked her head impatiently "I know, I know. So we'll just have to be careful, won't we? Even more careful than we have been." she added hastily as Anna opened her mouth looking affronted.

Anna sighed. "Woohoo." They sat still for a minute, thinking about their next move. And then a minor crisis had to be averted. Donna had been staring around the room and had spotted the bartender. She was about to raise a hand and call him over, but Anna grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "Are you crazy?"

"I was just going to see if the bartender might have information." said Donna stiffly.

Anna scowled "That's a good idea, but if we ask him anything, we'll go up to the counter. We're not waving our arms around and shouting at people from across the room. Now sit down and stay down!"

Donna looked insulted "Anna, relax! It was just one mistake and anyway, it didn't happen; you pulled my arm down!"

Anna covered eyes with one hand "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk to you like you were five years old, but will you please not do something like that again?"

Donna seemed appeased and sat back in her chair, tucking her cloak firmly around her. Ari smiled at some private joke and tossed up the suggestion that they sit and wait a few minutes until the bartender made his way over to this side of the room. This idea was approved as the most unobtrusive way of getting information. This way, Ari pointed out, they would appear to be getting their drinks the same way as everyone else and they wouldn't attract undue attention by getting up and wandering through the pub. It was also decided that Anna would be their spokesperson since she was the best at striking up conversations with strange people.

"Besides," said Donna "I'll just freeze up and start babbling, and Ari will begin an argument." Ari narrowed her eyes, but did not contest the fact.

The three of them dropped into silence then, and simply sat there gazing covertly around the room. The bartender had been in a corner or the bar a few minutes ago, but now apparently, he had vanished and had not reappeared for some time. Ari drummed her fingers on the table, humming under her breath. Donna was slumped in her chair, her eyes darting back and forth, and Anna just sat stock still, occasionally looking cautiously over her shoulder for the bartender. More than a few times, they all had to duck to avoid getting brained by the frequently thrown furniture. There looked to be a fight going on in every corner of the pub, from the arbitrarily thrown punch at someone in the way, to full out brawls in which some of them were getting thrown after the furniture. There was one nerve wrecking instance when a half-drunken man staggered over to their table and started making threats out of thin air. Ari and Donna didn't know what to do, but Anna merely raised her head slightly and stared a hole through him, while the other two kept very quiet. Fortunately, the man seemed to reach the desired conclusion that they were Death Eaters or some other group not to be messed around with. He trailed off in the middle of a particularly nasty insult that would have earned him a good hex or two from Ari under different circumstances, and backed away rather hastily, muttering to himself. Ari and Donna sighed in relief and Anna smirked. The next second, though, they all had to refrain from jumping up in shock. The bartender had seemingly Apparated beside their table.

"So, what did you want, eh?" he said, sounding as if he'd said the same thing a million times tonight already. Ari and Donna looked at Anna expectantly. Anna leaned forward and said quietly,

"We're not thirsty, but we'd settle for some information if you've got it."

The man looked them over shrewdly. "Really." he said finally "And just what information are you looking for? Not that I'm saying you'll get it."

"We're searching for an old friend of ours and we have it on good authority that he lives in this general neighborhood."

The man snorted "Lady, if he lives in "this general neighborhood", there's a good chance he don't want to be found. And believe me, it'd probably be a good idea not to find him."

"We've been over this with other contacts." said Anna irritably "We know perfectly well who and what our friend is and we would appreciate some cooperation in finding him."

"Well that's all comin' up roses innit?" the barman sneered "But just who the hell are you?"

"I don't think you need to know that, really." answered Anna.

"Yeah," put in Ari "For all we know, you could be a Death Eater."

"Ari!!" hissed Donna.

The disagreeable barman narrowed his eyes. "You're not Death Eaters then?"

"Now you've done it." said Donna. Ari looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry."

But the barman's manner suddenly became a tad less cold. "You aren't Death Eaters?" he asked, trying to get a glimpse of their faces beneath the hoods.

Anna appeared to be surprised. "No." she said slowly "Does that make a difference?"

"Very. But it's one thing for you to say that you ain't and something else to not be one."

"Well I suppose I can understand that." said Anna. She leaned toward the other two and whispered, "Do you think we should tell him? He probably knows all the news there is to know around here and we really don't have time to find anyone else."

Ari shrugged "I guess. Yes." Donna hesitated a split second before nodding .

Anna turned back to the man who was glaring at them impatiently. "Is there someplace we won't be overheard?"

He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Back room behind the bar."

"Excellent." said Anna briskly, getting up and pulling Donna and Ari with her. "Shall we go then?"

The barman grunted and set off into the packed crowd, fearlessly nudging people out of the way. The women dived after him, trying to get through the path he made before it closed. _Just what we need._ thought Donna. _A chance to shove someone aside and start a fight._

Fortunately, they all reached the bar without incident. Unfortunately, it was when they were behind the bar that something happened. The barman went around the counter, digging in his pocket for keys and ducking thrown tankards. An unconscious habit, no doubt developed over time due to the atmosphere. The girls were not so lucky, however, and a piece of crockery hit Ari rather hard on the back of her head, apparently knocking her out. She fell forward into Anna, who was in front of her, nearly making them both fall down. Donna caught at Ari's arm and slung it over her shoulder, motioning Anna to take Ari's other arm and they managed to get through the door. The barman had turned sharply at the dull thud of the crockery hitting Ari, but relaxed when Anna and Donna had gotten a firm grip her.

Once inside the small room, he shoved a chair toward the three of them and Anna and Donna lowered Ari into it. Anna quickly took a look at Ari's head and sighed in relief.

The man raised his eyebrows questioningly and Donna said, "She's fine. Just got knocked out."

He grunted noncommittally "So what are you here for?"

"Remus Lupin." answered Anna, watching him carefully. He looked taken aback.

"The werewolf?"

"Yes." said Donna testily.

He glared again. "Don't you get all annoyed, missy. I'm just surprised anyone'd be looking for Remus, is all."

Anna looked surprised now "You know him personally?"

"Well enough." he answered shortly. "My name's Aldous. What's yours?"

"I'm Anna Wilcox."

"Arianna Fielding. Ouch." groaned Ari, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"Donna Morgan."

The bartender started violently and stared at Donna in shock.

"What?" Donna asked nervously. "You…I… Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" said Aldous quickly. "I've just heard your name before." And the oddest look crossed his formerly taciturn face as he looked around at the other women as if seeing them for the first time. "Of course, of course." he muttered, more to himself than to them. "The girl from fifth year, he said. Or was it sixth? And Anna and Ari too."

"My name? But where would you have heard my name? We've never been here before! Who are you anyway?" Donna's voice was growing slightly high-pitched. Anna laid a hand on her arm. "Easy, Donna."

Aldous laughed grimly. "Oh, I'm expecting a lot of questions, Wilcox. You all are lookin' for Remus. Well I'll allow that any other day, if someone other than yourselves had come askin' questions and pokin' around, I would have shown them the alley street close up, make no mistake!"

"You said you know Remus 'well enough'," said Anna "But from what you just said, I think you've known him for years."

Aldous nodded. "Yep."

"So were is he?" asked Donna eagerly.

"Wait a minute." Ari broke in sharply. "We don't know you." pointing at Aldous, "You know who we are, which is all fine and good I suppose. _But... _How do we know for sure that you're not a Death Eater?"

Anna nodded, silently seconding Ari's query. Donna appeared to be trying to read Aldous's mind just by staring at him. He sighed and pulled up his left sleeve to the elbow. "See? No mark ."

Anna thought a minute and said, "We will be willing to trust you- to a point- if you can tell us what Remus's nickname was at Hogwarts. He told very few people about it."

Aldous smiled. "Moony."

Donna and Ari looked delighted. Anna merely huffed in an 'oh-well-here-goes-nothing' fashion. "So where is he?" she asked.

"Hard to tell Mrs. Fielding. He moves around a lot these days." he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I suspect it has something to do with marshalling the werewolves against Greyback---"

"Well it's about bloody time!" exclaimed Donna. "Did you see the paper today?"

Aldous waved an impatient hand. "Let's not get sidetracked."

"Sidetracked…!" began Donna indignantly, but Aldous glared.  
"Do you want to find Remus or not?" he demanded.

"Yes, yes, sorry."

"Anyway, like I said, he moves around quite a bit lately, but when he comes back here, he always stays at the same place. It's kind of an inn but the people are definitely not as friendly."

"Like here but with rooms?" asked Ari waspishly.

"Ari!" Anna said exasperatedly. "What is the name of this so-called inn?" she asked of Aldous.

Aldous snorted. "The name; no one uses it any more, people just know what it is and stay away from it, if you catch my meaning."

Now Ari snorted. "If you're trying to tell us to be careful, we're touched beyond belief. But we've heard the warnings before, Aldous, get on with it." This time, neither Donna not Anna said anything to Ari about her shortness of speech. They were all getting tired of playing ring-around-the-rosie with every person that had information.

Aldous sighed. "All right, be it on your own head then. The inn is named after the kind of people who live in it; it's called The Werewolf."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N…I had already written chapters One through Eight before I began uploading them to fan , so the wait for new chapters will be a bit longer after Chapter Eight is uploaded._

CHAPTER SIX

Anna, Ari, and Donna walked quickly down the street that ran behind The Moon .

Aldous had, very unwillingly, given them directions to where Remus supposedly lodged. In his aloof, grouchy way, Aldous seemed to worry a lot about their safety. Donna thought, and rightly so, that it was the fact that they were friends of Remus's that made Aldous help. _So, apparently we were wrong, Remus._ thought Donna _You_ do _have_ _friends_ _to_ _help_ _you_ _after_ _all_.

The road they were hurrying down was anything but helpful, however, to the three witches who were completely unacquainted with the part of town. There was an extraordinary amount of mud, and because there were few dry places to jump to, walking through it was difficult. The mud sucked the hems of their cloaks down to the ground and seemed intent on anchoring their feet to the street.

All of a sudden, Anna and Donna realized that Ari wasn't keeping up with them and they turned sharply around. They relaxed slightly, when they saw she was barely a yard or so behind them, but something appeared to be wrong.

"Curse this thing!" they heard Ari mutter to herself, as they walked back toward her.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked.

"This…cloak…won't…come…loose!" Ari panted, pulling with all her strength in her cloak, but to avail. Anna reached a hand down and pulled hard too. To everyone's amazement, the cloak remained stuck. With a puzzled look, Donna started toward the other two, staring at the ground. Barely had she come within foot of them when she stopped suddenly and walked quickly back to where she was.

"Donna?" Ari asked.

Donna looked annoyed about something. "Look down at your cloaks, girls."

"They're stuck in the mud, we know that. What does that have to do with …" Ari trailed off in the middle of her sentence. She glanced at Anna. "Yours is stuck too?"

Anna squinted down at the mud around their robes. Then she blew out her breath irritably. "Oh, bother it all."

Ari also looked down at the mud. Donna was still standing a little ways away from them and had transformed the mud around her into ice.

Ari looked at the mud and then looked at Donna's ice. "Of course," she realized "It's a Mudglobin." She waved her wand at the mud about her and Anna, and it turned to ice in a moment.

Now, a Mudglobin was basically a form of gnome that lived in places where mud was in great supply. These creatures could, if necessary, become the same shape and texture of mud in order to catch whatever prey they had, usually large insects or the occasional unlucky fairy. The Mudglobin was different from its relation, the garden gnome, in that it very much enjoyed playing tricks on people; whereas, the garden gnomes simply infested wizards' backyards. Mudglobins would take their mud-like form and lie in wait when they saw someone coming. Then, as had happened to Ari and Anna, they would latch on to the person's clothing or shoes and absolutely refuse to let go. Unlike the grindylow, whose grip was extremely strong, but also extremely brittle, Mudglobins could hold on indefinitely, and the only way to loosen their grip was to cast a freezing charm on them. The cold made their fingers slacken enough for the witch or wizard to yank their robes out of the way and make for drier ground.

Which is what the three of them did, taking long enough strides so that any Mudglobins would not have a chance to trap them again. Reaching the end of the street, The three of them leaned against a fence post to catch their breath. They made sure that they stood on dry ground. Anna was the first to recover from their mad dash.

"Thanks… for pointing… that out, Donna ." she said. Ari nodded too, still out of breath.

"No problem."

"See, that's just the kind of thing we don't need." Anna continued "Little crises here and there are setbacks that we don't have time for."

Ari had been looking around them, and seemed tense all of a sudden . "Anna," she said slowly, "I don't think we need to worry about setbacks."

"Why?" asked Anna and Donna curiously, their annoyance at the Mudglobin forgotten for the moment.

Ari pointed up. Following Ari's line of sight, the other two looked up at what appeared to by an old dilapidated house. Looking up further, they saw a sign creaking back and forth in the wind. The paint was pealing and the wood chipping, but the words on it were still quite plain. The Werewolf. They all looked at each other.

"Well, let's go." Donna said finally. She grinned at Anna and Ari.

"Do you think we should knock?"

* * *

The old building was almost as cold as it was outside and eerily silent. The three of them had opened the door very quietly, ready to start firing spells right and left if they should be attacked. But their caution was pretty much voided out by the fact that no one was in sight and not a sound could be heard. Ari, who was the last inside, frowned in puzzlement at the complete lack of activity. _Where the heck is everyone?_ She thought to herself. _Tell me we are not back at square one!_

Donna voiced what Ari was thinking. "There's no one here!" Her disappointed exclamation echoed around the room.

"Sshh!" whispered Anna.

"There's no one here, Anna!" Donna repeated angrily.

"Hang on a sec…" Ari said slowly. She went over to a big fireplace against the back wall. Poking around in the ashes, she announced, "The fire's still warm."

"So?" said Donna.

"They're still here." said Anna. "Probably upstairs and these floors are really thin, I can tell just by looking at them. Please keep your voice down, Donna."

Donna looked confused. "What do you mean, 'still here'? The place is as silent as the grave."

Ari shivered. "Let's refrain from making those kinds of comments, shall we?"

"Anyway," said Anna quietly, "Don't you remember the scene at The Moon?"

"Oh," said Donna in realization. She grimaced. "They're all asleep after drinking all night, right?"

Anna nodded and Ari chuckled. "Lucky for us, isn't it?"

Anna looked around the room again. "Well, now that we're here, we should----

"You should leave."

The women all jumped in shock and hastily turned around toward the voice. The voice in question belonged to a young boy, looking to be about nine years old. He was standing on the bottom step of a rickety old staircase that led upstairs. He had, quite literally, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, and his face had a pinched, weary look about it that made him seem older than he really was. At the moment, his eyes were narrowed in both confusion and suspicion. "You should leave." he repeated. "Please."

Anna smiled faintly. "We've heard that a lot. Do you know who owns this place?"

The boy looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Who owns this place?" he repeated incredulously. "Greyback is who! Now please, get out before you get in trouble."

Ari came around to stand in front of him. "Who are you?" she asked gently.

The boy looked taken aback. "Who am I?" he said.

Ari grinned "What is your name, I meant. And do you always repeat everything?"

"My name is Bartholomew. And no, I don't repeat everything anyone says, but it's really rare when someone comes in here and don't know who lives here."

"Well. Bartholomew. That's quite a long name for such a small boy." Ari observed, amused.

"I'm not so small. I'm ten years old." Bartholomew said defensively. "And anyway, everyone calls me 'Bart'. And you still need to leave."

Donna sighed. "We're not leaving, Bart."

"You have to! Alright, Greyback isn't here this instant, but we don't know when he's getting back."

"We're not going because we need to find a friend of ours." explained Ari. "And we heard from someone at The Moon that he stays here."

Bart looked doubtful. "I dunno, ma'am, you wouldn't find any friend of yours here I wouldn't think."

Ari smiled grimly. "Oh yes, we will. He's a werewolf."

"What about the other tenants?" Anna interjected. "Do you think anyone heard us?" She glanced at Donna while saying this. Donna rolled her eyes.

"No one else heard you, no. Besides, I was already awake; these rooms are too cold for sleeping if you're not drunk."

"Yeah, I'll bet." said Donna, snorting quietly.

"How do I know you aren't here to cause trouble?" Bart asked, apparently still suspicious.

Anna crossed her eyes in an annoyed expression. "Look, kid, if we were Death Eaters or some other undesirable person, we'd be getting our information by breaking down doors, not attempting to actually talk to someone."

The boy just shrugged stubbornly. "If you want me to tell you anything, you have to tell _me_ something _I'll_ believe."

Donna took a deep breath, "Okay, Bart, we are trying to find a man by the name of Remus Lupin. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"Remus Lupin?" Bart repeated, looking surprised. "Yeah, I know who that is."

"Well good." said Donna briskly "Then you probably know where he is, right?"

Bart just stared at them. The suspicious look on his face had not disappeared; if anything, it had intensified. Inwardly, Donna was cursing. Of all the people to give them information, this boy was turning out to be the most aggravating.

"What are your names?" he finally asked.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Donna exclaimed under her breath. Anna ran her hands forcefully over her face. Ari smiled wryly.

"Seems everyone wants to know who we are, huh?" she said to the others. Turning back to Bart, she said, "My name is Arianna Fielding, Bart. Although, everyone calls me Ari." Ari nodded to the others.

"And I'm Anna Wilcox ." said Anna tiredly.

"Aaand I'm Donna Morgan." said Donna .

"Donna Morgan!!" yelped Bart. He clapped a hand over his mouth, realizing he'd been too loud. The women tensed, but no sound could be heard from upstairs. They relaxed. Somewhat.

"Where have you heard my name before?" hissed Donna. "And why does everyone and their cousin know my name around here?!"

"Don't exaggerate, Donna," Ari said "The only other person was Aldous, at the Moon."

"You guys know Aldous?" asked Bart. "See, now that was something I could have believed. Aldous isn't like anyone else here. He helps look out for me." Bart finally came down off the bottom step of the staircase. He waved a hand at the tables. "You can sit down, if you want to."

Anna eyed the grimy chairs hesitantly before gingerly sitting down on one of them . Donna and Ari followed suit. Bart plopped down on a chair on front of them .

"So." said Ari "We're kind of pressed for time here, so I'll give you the list of questions, and you can answer them to the best of your abilities, how's that?"

Bart nodded. "Sure."

"How do you know Remus Lupin, do you know where he is, how do we find him and," Ari finished, "Is he alright?"

Bart meshed his fingers together and leaned toward them slightly, reminding them of their old headmaster at Hogwarts. "The thing is, I've known Remus a lot longer than anyone here; since I was about five, I think. He's the best friend I ever had. Heck, he's kind of the only friend. He takes care of the kids around here even though he has to rush off all the time on his missions."

"What kind of— started Donna, but the others shushed her.

"I don't know where he is right now. In fact, I don't even know where he goes, so I couldn't tell you where to look."

"He never tells you?" asked Ari. Bart shook his head . "He feels it's safer that way, if I don't know too much about what he's doing. But you know what," he added, whispering conspiratorially, "I'll bet you anything that it has to do with Dumbledore."

Anna nodded slowly. "Probably."

"You didn't answer my earlier question, though," put in Donna "How is it you know my name? Did Remus tell you that?"

"Yeah, he talks about you sometimes." Bart grimaced "Actually, whenever he starts talking about you, you can be pretty sure he won't shut up for a while."

"Bart!" Ari scolded "That wasn't a very nice thing to say about someone who looks after you, you know."

Bart looked surprised and a little shamefaced. "Sorry." he mumbled.

"But Remus is alright?" said Anna "He hasn't been getting into too much trouble, I hope." She looked a little apprehensive at the grin on Bart's face as she finished the sentence.

"Of course he's been getting in trouble, Miss Wilcox, he runs into Greyback at least once a week."

"I don't see what's so funny about that." said Ari, raising an eyebrow.

"What's funny is that Greyback can't push Remus around. Nobody can. Greyback has been trying for years to get Remus to help, but Remus always says no." Bart sounded a little awed. "Can you imagine? And I've never seen anyone else stand up to Fenrir Greyback besides Remus, it's so cool."

The women smiled at that. "He was pretty cool at school, too." said Donna, remembering a certain spell Remus had come up with to chase away Peeves.

Ari was frowning a second later. "Bart," she said suddenly "why does Remus have to look after you? Why are you here instead of at home somewhere?"

All traces of a smile vanished off Bart's face. "I'm here because I don't have a home, Miss Fielding." he stared moodily at the tabletop.

"It's _Mrs_. Fielding, Bart, and I've told you, you can call me Ari." Ari said quickly. "What do you mean, you don't have a home? Did something happen to your parents, or…"

"If something happened to my parents, I'd never know and I wouldn't care." Bart said bitterly. "They're the ones who left me on this street when I was five."

"They left you?" Ari looked shocked. "They left you _here_ when you were five years old? You could have died, what in the name of Albus Dumbledore could they have been thinking?!!"

"They were thinking about never again having to deal with a –a monster every month." Bart was griping the table so hard, it looked like it might break.

"Bart." Ari put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm usually a very good judge of character, and you are not a monster. Don't call yourself names."

"It wasn't that I was a badly behaved toddler," Bart said stiffly "But that they apparently said 'no' to some Death Eaters or whatever and then couldn't live up to their mistake when Greyback took it out on me."

A dead silence fell over the table as the three women stared at Bart in saddened surprise.

"You're a werewolf aren't you." said Ari quietly. Her grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Yes."

"Well!" said Donna, breaking the silence, "Since Remus thinks well enough of you to bore you to tears talking about me, we hereby appoint you an honorary Marauder. That is, if Remus hasn't already."

Anna laughed. "Donna, don't be ridiculous." Ari gave Bart a hug.

He looked amazed. "It doesn't make a difference to you?" he asked in a small voice.

"Nah, we're crazy that way." said Anna, with a wide grin.

"Anna knew Remus was a werewolf in fifth year." Ari explained "She told Donna and me a few weeks ago."

"It explained a lot." added Donna. She hesitated a moment before saying, "Remus and I didn't part on the friendliest of terms. My fault; I had a problem with accepting things I couldn't understand. Remus being a werewolf was one of them."

"Yeah, he kind of hinted at that sometimes." Bart was looking infinitely more relaxed than he had been five minutes earlier.

"Listen," said Anna, glancing out a window, "You said you don't know where Remus is, but he's probably due to come back?"

Bart nodded. "Most likely."

"Then we should stay here, guys." Anna said to the others. They looked a bit apprehensive, but agreed.

"Are there any empty rooms, Bart?" Ari asked.

Bart made a face. "Just the ones at the very top of the house, and those are the coldest. Some of the shingles are missing off the roof."

Anna waved a dismissive hand. "No problem, we'll just use a few Insulating Charms." she got up from the table, Ari and Anna too.

"At the very top, you said, Bart?" asked Ari "I don't want to wake anyone up at this point."

Bart got up quickly "At the very top." he affirmed "But you'll want to be really quiet, 'cause the floorboards creak."

"Joy." said Ari sarcastically.

"To the world." deadpanned Bart. The women all smothered laughter.

"Seriously," said Bart, starting back up the stairs, "this place, in particular, could use some."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N… Nothing of note this time. Again, I own no characters you recognize._

Chapter Seven

The next morning, they were all woken up by the sound of raised voices and what seemed to be chairs being thrown. Ari groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. Anna stared at the floor in annoyance. "My sentiments exactly." she growled.

Donna swung her legs out of bed, managing to look tired and irate at the same time. "Isn't it a little early for them to be drunk?" she grumbled.

"You'd think." came Ari's muffled answer.

"Well, no need for us to lie in bed all day." said Anna briskly. She sprang up and whisked into the bathroom. Ari poked her head out from underneath her pillow. "Merlin!" she exclaimed "How can she be so not annoyed at being jerked awake!"

Donna grinned "Because she's a morning person and you're not." Donna tilted her head mock thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, you'd be great at pretending you're a werewolf."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ari asked warily, sitting straight up now.

"Just go down there and be as surly as possible; like you usually do."

"Oh, bugger off!" Ari snapped, trying not to smile in spite of herself. She threw her pillow at Donna who ducked it laughing.

Anna looked around the corner of the bathroom door. "_Girls_. Keep it down! We're trying to blend in remember?"

Ari smirked "Yes, Mum."

Anna rolled her eyes "If your son could see you now." She disappeared back into the bathroom while Ari shuddered. "I'd never be able to say again: 'No more adventures.'." She was quiet for a minute, staring of into space. Donna watched her, amused. "Is the wall that interesting?"

Ari snapped back to attention. "No, I was just wondering…"

"Yes?"

"…wondering how Bart can take care of himself when Remus isn't here."

"Going all 'motherly' on us?" Donna teased. Then she sobered. "But you're right. This is no place for a little boy to grow up, werewolf or no."

"And whether he can take care of himself or not," added Ari wryly. "I get the distinct impression that he's gotten used to being an adult around here."

Donna sighed, "Yeah, well around here you have to either grow up fast or get yourself killed, harsh as it seems."

Anna came out of the bathroom then and Donna took her turn.

"Heard what you two were talking about." Anna said, sitting down on the edge of her bed to pull on her boots. "And I have to wonder what his parents could possibly have been thinking, leaving him here to this rabble."

Ari nodded sadly "At least Remus is taking care of him."

Anna continued, "But as Bart said, he's not the only child in this horrible place and Remus can't possibly have enough time to take care of all of them."

"There might be other werewolves that are on his side that can help." Ari said, sounding like she didn't really believe it."

"Yeah, maybe…" Anna trailed off, listening to the noise downstairs.

Ari sighed, listening too. She looked around at Ann and grimaced. "It's going to be a long day."

Bart was sitting at the top of the stairs when they came out, and seemed relieved that he had caught them before they went down.

"Good morning, Bartholomew." said Ari cheerfully. Bart made a face. Ari frowned. "Is something wrong, Bart?"

"No, but there will be if you all go down to breakfast looking that cheerful. You have to act like them if you don't want to be noticed. Surly, really."

Donna glanced at Ari who, very immaturely, stuck her tongue out at Donna. The three women pulled up the hoods of their cloaks and tried to look as intimidating as possible. Bart nodded approvingly. "Much better." he said. He peered down over the balcony. "They're still in meeting, so you should be able to get down without trouble."

Donna paled. "In meeting? With Greyback?"

"Thank Merlin, no." Bart said quietly, as he started down the stairs, motioning them to follow. "Just their daily meeting on how best to spread throughout the country and ruin people's lives in the process." His voice was somewhat bitter as he finished the sentence.

They reached the ground floor and walked into the room they had been in last night. Bart showed them to a corner where odd pieces of chicken, bread, and what looked like a milk jug was jumbled together. The women sat down and eyed the food dubiously. After a minute or so, Anna and Donna picked up some decent bread and chicken and fell to. Ari picked up the milk jug, sniffed it, and made a visible effort at not dropping it in disgust. Holding it well away from her, she set it gingerly back on the table and looked up to see Bart looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"I think I might have some water." Ari said "And, by water, I don't mean mud."

She made to get up to go to the kitchen, but Bart waved her back down, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Wait." he said, and disappeared into the kitchen. He returned with a glass that was surprisingly clean, filled with water that was relatively clear. Ari smiled after trying it. "That, I'm thinking, was much better than the milk wound have been. Even Alex wouldn't've drunk that!"

"Who's Alex?" asked Bart curiously, sounding his age for once.

"My son."

"Oh. How old is he?"

Ari's forehead creased slightly as she looked at Bart over the rim of her glass. "Your age, Bart, almost eleven."

Bart became sullen for a moment. "Is something the matter?" Ari asked, thinking she probably knew.

"Do you love him?" Bart asked suddenly.

"My son? Of course I do." Ari answered "And I would never, ever, leave him out here all alone if he happened to become a werewolf, if that's what you're wondering."

"Yeah, kinda." Bart muttered.

"Although," continued Ari, "I might be inclined to ground him indefinitely sometimes. The number of pranks that boy has pulled on me!" she beamed reminiscently.

Bart abruptly got up from the table. "I've got to go see the others." he mumbled "They like me to run errands sometimes and they get angry if they don't know where to find me." The noise level had dissipated quite a bit and chairs could be heard scraping over the floor now, instead of the ceiling. Bart looked around at all of them, anxiously.

"We'll be fine," reassured Ari "You just make sure you don't get into any trouble, dear."

Bart stared at her. Ari smiled. "Go on." Bart broke out in a huge grin for a few second before heading towards the door to the meeting room and disappearing. Anna and Donna looked over at Ari, both smiling knowingly. Donna shook her head. "Motherly." she said affectionately.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile, the object of their search was talking to an old friend. Though arguing would have been a better term. Sirius Black stood in the middle of the kitchen at Grimmauld Place and scowled at Remus, who was sitting at the table looking up at him with some annoyance.

"Sirius, I'm not talking about this anymore!" he said loudly over Sirius's grumbling. "You know that even if I did approve of your going on missions---which I don't, let me reiterate---Dumbledore has the final word on the subject."

Sirius slammed a hand down on the tabletop. "Remus," he cried "If it's not rule with Albus, it's another! I'm not going to hide for the rest of my life!"

"Dumbledore doesn't want the rest of your life to last until next week." Remus pointed out dryly.

"So he's saying I can't take care of myself?" sneered Sirius.

Remus frowned. "Don't do that, you look like Snape." Sirius stopped immediately. Remus continued, "Considering how Lucius Malfoy recognized you at the train station, I'd say that, yes. Not." and he held up a hand, seeing that Sirius was about to explode, "Not that you haven't in the past. But Voldemort hadn't returned when you were on the run last time and his Death Eaters are now connected with the Ministry."

Sirius continued to look mutinous and Remus sighed. "Besides that, Sirius, Harry looks up to you and we're trying to keep him safe, remember? You may not think you're doing any good in this house, but you'll be even less of a help if Harry gets in trouble by following your example."

Sirius looked like he was grasping at straws. "Harry's not helpless. And as to keeping him safe, shouldn't there be more people out there doing that? Like me, for instance?"

"No!" said Remus wearily. "He wants to join up with the Order, Sirius! You were here, you heard him! If you decide to go on unauthorized missions, that's only going to encourage him and we can't afford any more Ministry hearings; we do not need Harry getting expelled!"

Sirius looked rather defeated "I know, Moony, I just…I wish…Merlin, I'm an idiot." he finished morosely.

Remus smiled slightly "Not an idiot, Padfoot, you're just bored to death. But try to find less dangerous ways of entertaining yourself, eh?"

"Like you do?"

"What I do is not entertaining." Remus said forcefully "It's nerve-wracking and patience-wearing, but it's necessary and Dumb-- the Order needs my help."

Sirius snorted again "Don't worry, Remus, I'm not going to go off again just hearing the man's name." He twirled a pepper shaker between his fingers staring off into space with the beginnings of a mischievous look on his face. Remus looked apprehensive.

"I know that look." he said warily "What have you got up your sleeve now?"

Sirius's eyes twinkled as he threw Remus a sly grin. "Oh, I haven't done anything, don't worry. I've just remembered…it's what Harry's up to that you'll have to worry about." Sirius waited. Remus sighed.

"I'm almost afraid to ask. What has he gotten himself into this time?"

"He's organizing a secret defense group up at the school."

"What? Why?"

Sirius went on, "Almost thirty kids including Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny have joined."

"Again: why?"

Sirius smirked. "It gets better. You see, the reason they are forming this little club---it's illegal by the way---is because the new so-called teacher of Defense Against The Dark Arts this year is absolutely no help at all. She's having them study the theory of defense; she won't teach them the practical spell work. And do you know who the teacher is?"

"No. Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Oh well, tell me anyway."

"It's Dolores Umbridge."

Remus blanched "Oh, no."

"Yeah."

"Sirius this is bad. This is way beyond bad! Do you know what this means? It means the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts! Already!"

"Well I'm glad you're taking it so well, Moony. When Molly heard about it, she couldn't speak at first and then made it obsolete for anyone to have used Extendable Ears."

"Was she angry about her children joining this illegal group, or about Umbridge teaching at Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"Both, I think, but "four of her ridiculous children" took over after a while." said Sirius, laughing at the memory.

Remus groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "And where," he said in a muffled tone through his hands "did Harry get this brilliant idea, may I ask? It's not even a month into the school year and he's already flouting the tyrants' authority. James would have been proud."

"From what Mungdungus overheard, it was Hermione's idea at first, but Harry will be the one teaching the other kids." Sirius chuckled happily, "I always did say she was the smartest witch of her age."

Remus took his face out of his hands and stared incredulously at his old friend. "You don't actually approve of this!"

Sirius shrugged "I don't disapprove."

"You're impossible."

"That's what Molly said. And apparently, I'm being delegated the task of telling them to knock it off. Molly would've, but she has guard duty tonight."

"You can't go anywhere to tell them anything, Sirius!"

"Relax, Floo Powder remember?" There's a fireplace in Gryffindor common room, the message will only take a minute or so, and I'll be gone before anyone's the wiser. Although, I can guarantee you, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are not going to give up the idea."

"You're probably right. Just be very careful, okay?" Sirius nodded reluctantly.

They both fell silent for a moment. Sirius, thinking about his own days at Hogwarts and Remus wondering if Harry was deliberately trying to make him lose his mind. Banning irritation for the moment, Remus stood up from the table and looked at the clock across the room. Sirius glanced up at him. "Time to go already?" he asked.

"Yes." Remus said resignedly "Of Greyback will start to get suspicious. More suspicious than he already is anyway." he amended as Sirius raised his eyebrows in skepticism.

"I don't think there's been a day when Greyback hasn't been suspicious of something." Sirius scowled "Considering the kind of filthy life he leads, he _should_ be paranoid."

Remus smiled grimly and walked toward the fireplace. "I'll see you later, Sirius."

"Sooner, I'm hoping. It gets lonely around here with no one but the mad paintings and that nutter to talk to." said Sirius wistfully, referring to the decrepit old house elf bent on insulting everyone of less-than-pure descent.

"Just make sure you don't leave this house." Remus said warningly "No matter how boring it gets. Call up Molly if you want. You're worried about Harry, she's worried about her kids, maybe you two should talk."

Sirius made a face. "Maybe. But maybe not. I don't need another fight over how and how not to take care of Harry."

Remus laughed "True enough." He stepped into the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder.

"See you, mate." Sirius said. Remus nodded and dropped the powder which erupted into emerald green flames.

"Knockturn Alley!" He shouted, and disappeared. Sirius stood staring at the empty fireplace for a few seconds as if someone would step out suddenly and give him the answers to everything. Then he turned to go find Buckbeak something to eat.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N… Last chapter before I have to have a brainstorming session! Please wait patiently and not throw insults!_

Chapter Eight

While Sirius was informing Remus of Harry's activities at school, Anna Ari,and Donna were sitting in a corner trying to look "forbidding and dangerous" as Donna had put it. The werewolves had come out of their meeting room and were milling around, laughing raucously and shoving each other harder than was necessary.

Bart had been sent to get some new milk after the first jug was discovered to be undrinkable. One of the first werewolves out the meeting room had grabbed the jug and drank it all down in practically one gulp. And then spat the majority of it back out in disgust, spraying everyone within five feet of him. Bart was immediately dispatched and he seemed quite glad to go. The man's nasty morning temper had not been improved by the rancid milk.

The women were staying well out of sight when this was happening, sot as not attract unwelcome attention. However, Ari was nearly making their care obsolete by being taken with a strong fit of the giggles. Both Anna Donna elbowed her alternately to make her shut up and Ari had stuffed part of her cloak in her mouth to stifle her laughter. Once Bart had returned with milk free of any water-beetles, and the werewolves had raised the volume of their racket, Anna and Donna felt it was safe to speak and turned accusingly toward Ari, who had settled down somewhat, but was still grinning madly.

"Really, Ari, you might have had a bit more common sense!" Anna exclaimed in a low voice.

"I should say so," agreed Donna "What on earth was so funny?"

Ari chuckled "I'm sorry, girls, really. But you saw what happened as well as I did. The minute he picked up that jug I just knew what was going to happen, and what do know, it did! Without even smelling it, the silly man tossed it all down, and just as quickly, spat it back out. All over his friends' faces too!"

Anna allowed herself a slight smirk, but said sternly, "It _was_ amusing, but I don't think he would think of it like that; he doesn't strike me as the type to take being laughed at very well."

"And it's a good thing Bart went to get some more milk." added Donna "I get the feeling that they don't like him much, and that little incident would probably be the perfect opportunity for them to take out frustration on innocent bystanders."

Ari sobered up immediately. "Hadn't thought of that. I'll be more careful, don't worry."

Satisfied, Anna sat back in her chair and studied everyone in the room. Donna merely glanced around watchfully before slumping down in her chair. Remus was still not there. Ari was keeping her eye on Bart and caught him a couple times, looking over in their direction. He seemed to be making sure they were still there. The other werewolves were continuing their noise and rambunctious behavior. Bart was sitting with a couple boys that looked like they would have been in sixth or seventh year if they had gone to Hogwarts. They were all whispering about something and after a few minutes, the two older boys got up, seemed to reassure Bart that they'd be back, and ran out the front door. Bart got up too and slouched around the room, weaving in and out of people to get to the breakfast that wasn't being thrown on the floor.

He had not gotten halfway across the room when something unfortunate happened. Ari had caught his eye and had given him a small encouraging wave. Bart went to wave carefully back, but not carefully enough. His hand knocked against a werewolf's glass and sent it crashing to the floor, splintering into hundreds of tiny pieces. The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at Bart. The werewolf Bart had run into glared furiously at him. With a sinking feeling, Ari recognized the werewolf that had drunk the spoiled milk.

The man advanced on Bart, who had gone pale. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled. Bart backed away, but they were all standing around him and there wasn't anywhere to go. The older werewolf lurched forward and grabbed the boy by the front of his robes.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Mr. Harrison." Bart said evenly. He seemed scared, but he met the man's angry gaze and didn't stutter. Harrison didn't like this answer and shoved Bart to the floor, nearly on top of the shattered glass.

"Not on purpose. Well then," Harrison sneered "Since you didn't do it, you're off the hook. But try and put it back together just to be helpful."

"I can't." Bart said quietly.

"You can't" mocked Harrison again "You're the one what wants to be a bleeding wizard and you can't do nothing magic!"

Bart looked stonily up at him. "Of course I can't do magic, no one's ever shown me how."

Harrison smiled maliciously "Then we've got a problem, don't we now?"

During the incident, Anna and Donna were trying unsuccessfully to hold Ari back.

"Let go!" she whispered fiercely "Bart needs help!"

"You'll only make the situation worse!" Anna hissed.

"But don't you see, they're picking on him because he gets along with Remus! Some of the others have bumped into 'Mr. Harrison' and he didn't throw them around!"

"We saw, Arianna." whispered Donna "But Bart knows how to take care of himself. He's been here for years."

"That's just it!" Ari wrenched her arms out of their grip and clenching her hands. "He shouldn't have to. He's much too young to be taking care of himself. Merlin curse his so-called parents!" With that, Ari turned and pushed through the crowd. Anna and Donna looked at each other in helpless frustration before diving after her. Donna managed to grab one of Ari's arms again for a second. "No wands!" she hissed. Ari nodded impatiently and kept going. The three of them got to the inside of the circle around Bart and Harrison. Anna and Donna looked at Ari, wondering what she was going to do.

Harrison had picked up Bart by the robes again and had slammed him up against the wall. Bart's nose was bleeding and he wasn't trying to pretend he wasn't scared anymore. He looked close to tears. And that was more than enough for Ari. She marched up behind Harrison, watching Bart's eyes grow wide as he realized what she was doing. Ari stopped within feet of the bullying werewolf, and he remained oblivious, too intent on choking Bart to notice anything out of the ordinary. The other werewolves were muttering to each other, not sure what was going on.

"Harrison!" Ari rapped out suddenly and sharply. Harrison started in surprise, dropping Bart and spinning around. Ari drew back her fist and sent it smashing into Harrison's face. He dropped to the floor, and the crowd started shouting, sensing a fight coming. Bart had scrambled to his feet and was trying to stand in front Ari. Anna and Donna were gripping their wands in their pockets, hoping that things were not about to get any uglier.

Harrison sprang to his feet and started toward Ari and Bart, who was standing directly in front of her. With one quick shove, Ari pushed Bart behind her and drew back her fist again. "You don't want to come over here." she said quietly.

Harrison's face turned beet red. "Who do you think you are? You have any idea who you're talking to?"

"I was under the impression that I was talking to Mr. Harrison, the mad werewolf." answered Ari coolly. Anna and Donna gasped. Bart looked impressed. Harrison laughed. It was really more of a snarl than a laugh, and gave everyone the impression that he was amused in a way that could be detrimental to Ari's health.

"Mad am I, missy?" he said dangerously "Oh, this is nothing. You should see me after someone's insulted me to my face."

"How mad you get doesn't interest me," said Ari furiously "it's how you've been treating Bart that wants watching."

"Ari," whispered Bart "Please, don't aggravate him! He works for Greyback!"

"Ari, eh?" Harrison tilted his head from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of her face under her hood. "I'll swear you're not a werewolf, since you don't seem to know anything about nothing around here. But you can't be a witch because they use wands, not fists. And you're too tall to be a hag."

"Thank you so very much." Ari said icily.

"So what are you?" continued Harrison, pacing around her and Bart.

"Whatever I am, is none of your damn business, you monster."

"Arriii!" hissed Anna.

Harrison brightened. "Ah, an accomplice." he observed. He snapped his fingers. "Get her." he said, pointing at Anna.

"Leave her alone!" ground out Donna as they grabbed Anna.

"And her." pointing at Donna.

"Let them go, Harrison," Ari said evenly. Harrison sneered at her.

"Or what?"

"Or I break your arm." she finished.

Harrison shook his head. "You wouldn't last two seconds with me. Just caught me off guard last time."

Ari leveled her gaze at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. "When people like you threaten children, I can move pretty fast."

Harrison narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you're a werewolf, definitely."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Donna asked from where she was being held back.

"It means," snarled Harrison "That she, or you, or your other little friend have the guts to do what we do!"

"Ari stepped toward him, clearly getting angrier by the minute. " 'To do what we do'? What makes you think that we're here because we want to join?"

Harrison kicked a nearby chair into position and slouched down in it, putting his feet on a table. "You're here aren't you?" he said slowly, as if explaining something to a three-year-old.

"We are here." answered Ari with a smirk.

Harrison's lip curled. Several werewolves muffled laughter. "Anyone who comes here automatically joins our cause. We don't use paperwork."

"I didn't think you would." Ari replied disdainfully "Because from the state of this room, you'd just tear it up."

Bart chuckled but stopped short when Harrison glared at him. "I'm not finished with you."

"Yes, you are." said Ari.

"How're you going to stop me?" Harrison yawned. "Told you before, you only caught me off guard just now." He rubbed his jaw and winced. "Good punch though."

Ari didn't smile. She simply stared a hole through him.

"So since you're here to help, I might mention that there are better ways of getting my attention."

Ari lost patience. "Ignorant, arrogant, idiot!!!" she yelled, stamping her foot. "We are not here to join your deluded society full of half-witted gargoyles! We are here on our own business and that is all there is to it! THAT! IS! IT! Do you understand me now!?! Is this how you people communicate? Yelling and screaming and _howling_ at each other?!"

Bart's eyes were the size of dinner plates, and he was attempting vainly to smother laughter. Harrison had taken his feet off the table with a bang and was sitting with his mouth open. The other werewolves were so taken aback by Ari's outburst that they had relaxed their hold on Anna and Donna, who took advantage of the opportunity to wriggle free and come to stand behind Ari.

Ari glanced over her shoulder at the two of them. "Donna," she said tersely, "take Bart and get out of here. Anna, cover her."

Harrison, who was beginning to recover from Ari's fury now looked puzzled. He appeared to doubt the women's ability to simply walk out of a building full of werewolves without any apparent backup. Then Anna and Donna both pulled out their wands, and he began to turn an alarming shade of purple.

"_Witches?!_" he gasped in outrage. It seemed like he would have said more, but shock prevented him. Anna and Donna slipped out into the yard with Bart, who was all too happy to go, and then Anna returned to assist Ari. And just in time. Ari was concentrating on Harrison, making sure that he wasn't feigning shock just so she would let her guard down. Unfortunately, that meant she wasn't paying attention to the rest of the room. Several werewolves were feet away from flattening Ari when Anna shouted, "_Petrificus_ _Totalus_!" and they all thudded to the floor, temporarily paralyzed. The remaining werewolves refrained from attempting to avenge their unconscious friends, and stood lining the walls, glaring balefully at Anna. Harrison seemed to think that attacking them would be a bad idea too, but he was still shaking with fury and disbelief.

As Ari turned to go, and Anna kept her eye on everyone in the room, he managed to regain the power of speech.

"If you're a witch," he snarled, venom practically dripping off the last word, "why the hell did you punch me instead shouting one of those bloody curses?"

Ari fixed him with an icy stare. "First, because I was trying to avoid showing off the fact that we were witches, and second," her lip curled "after the way you've treated Bart for goodness knows how long, it was too much fun not to."

She tuned on her heel went out the door. Anna followed, but stopped in the doorway to deliver a parting message. "Tell Remus Lupin," she said evenly, "ignoring the hisses of shocked indignation at the name, "that Donna, Ari, and I would like to talk to him when he gets back. I'm sure he'll know where to find us, and I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that Bart is safe at any rate." She gave Harrison a pointed look and whisked out the door, shutting it with bang.

* * * * * *

The four of them ran quickly into a side alley to Apparate without having undesirable creatures chasing after them, which would have happened had they stayed out in front of The Werewolf.

"Am I really coming with you?" Bart asked, staring at Ari, still awestruck.

"Yes." Ari answered "And permanently too, if my husband and son don't throw a fit about it, which they probably won't."

"Permanently? D-Do you r-really m-mean it?" stuttered Bart in a whisper.

Ari grinned. "Absolutely." Anna and Donna looked at each other and smiled.

"But now we really have to go." Ari said "Before Harrison decides that we aren't all that dangerous and runs us to ground."

Bart laughed weakly, remembering Ari punching Harrison in the face. "Not all that dangerous?" he repeated almost inaudibly. "If that wasn't dangerous, I love to see what was!"

"We'll take you to see Dumbledore." said Donna firmly, her eyes twinkling at Bart's amazed reaction to her promise. He was still gaping when Ari took tight hold of his arm and Disapparated.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N… New chapter is up! By the way, the Mudglobin (which is mentioned a few chapters back) is entirely my invention, if anyone was wondering. This chapter is kind of an interlude, talking about Ari's family._

Reuben Fielding is a very worried man. He is one the few people in the wizarding community who believed that Voldemort had retuned. His son is a trouble-magnet and a mischievous prankster who believed that rules were unnecessary and horribly cruel. His wife is, at the moment, trying to find an old friend of theirs from Hogwarts. Arianna had not told him exactly who it was she was looking for, choosing to be suspiciously vague, but Reuben had come to suspect that she was not looking in the nicest parts of town.

So it was not surprising that he was extremely worried. After all, he has no earthly idea as to where Ari was, and she could have died and he would not have known. He is sitting in front of the fire right now, thinking about this and silently cursing at Ari's penchant for getting into trouble.

_And she wonders where Aaron gets it._ He thinks wryly.

Aaron had been even more unruly of late; Ari could usually keep him in line and so could Reuben, but with his mother gone, Aaron had been an impossible handful. He had adopted a devil-may-care attitude in the past several days that was driving his father to distraction. Reuben knew that Aaron was worried about his mother, but the boy was ten and wasn't in a stage to admit something like that.

As if Reuben had Summoned him with his thoughts, Aaron wandered into the living room and plopped down on the hearth next his dad's chair. Reuben frowned and said sternly, "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Couldn't sleep. I was just lying there with my eyes wide open."

"I don't suppose you tried closing your eyes?" Reuben said, gently sarcastic. "It's near midnight, son. This is way too late for you to be up."

"I just can't sleep, okay?" Aaron answered, sounding weary. "Besides, if I do fall asleep, I'll have nightmares." He picked up the iron poker by the fireplace and swung it around in a circle, chipping the linoleum.

"Aaron!" scolded Reuben, taking out his wand and pointing it at the damage with a muttered, "_Reparo_".

"Now," turning back to Aaron, "What do mean 'nightmares'? You haven't had nightmares since you were five."

Aaron snorted. "Yeah, when I was five and had nightmares about the next-door neighbor because he was the scariest thing I'd ever seen."

Reuben smiled. "So now that you're ten, you aren't scared of anything except…what?"

Aaron mumbled something indistinct.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'Just of Mum dying.'" he poked furiously at the coals, sending sparks flying. Reuben felt the color drain out of his face as he reached over to take the poker from Aaron.

"She's not going to die, Aaron." he said, a lot more firmly than he felt. "She's trying to find someone from our school days. It's really very simple, nothing to worry about."

Aaron looked up at him, disbelief clear in his face. "Come on, Dad."

Reuben sighed, knowing he couldn't fool his son any more than he could fool himself. "Alright," he said softly, "Let's say it isn't that simple… but your mother's gotten in and out of more scrapes that I can count _or_ care to remember. She can take care of herself."

"Dad, Mum's been gone for almost a week and we haven't heard anything. Besides, the last scrape Mum got into was in taking that lemon pie to the garden club, only to find out that there was mold in the middle of it. _After_ she got there."

Reuben laughed, "Only half right, Aaron. I knew your mother for years before we were married and she- well, lets just say she had more than her share of detentions."

Aaron looked skeptical. "You're putting me on."

"Where do you think you get that talent for trouble, young man? It certainly didn't come from me!"

"But Mum's never mentioned anything like the stuff I, you know, get into."

"Of course not! If she did tell you any of those stories, she'd be giving you a whole host of new ideas for chaos! And more chaos in this house I can do without."

When Aaron still looked doubtful, Reuben just thumped the empty space next to him on the sofa and pulled down the sofa-blanket. "Come sit up here where it's a little softer, son. I don't want you falling asleep in front of the fire and falling in."

Aaron made a face, but scrambled up off the linoleum to plunk down on the sofa next to his father. Reuben tucked the blanket around Aaron, and the two of them sat there a while in silence. The clock informed Reuben that it was well past midnight, and the fire in the grate was flickering lower and lower. Aaron was almost asleep when Reuben said quietly, "Mum will be fine, Aaron, I promise."

"Okay." Aaron yawned sleepily.

"There's actually a lot you don't know about your mother," Reuben continued softly "But if there's one thing I know about her, it's that she doesn't go down without a fight."

"That'd be somethin' to see..." murmured Aaron.

Reuben chuckled quietly.

And at that moment, unbeknownst to her husband and son, Ari was trying to pull herself out of a puddle that was really a Mudglobin.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N… I'm updating! Finally! Let me know what you think. Sorry for the delay._

The next morning showed Rueben and Aaron still sitting by the now dead fire, both fast asleep, finally. It was extremely quiet in the house, and the only sounds were the birds chirping in the background and a neighbor cursing at the squirrels in his garden. Suddenly, three loud cracks split the morning air.

Reuben and Aaron's eyes snapped open. Reuben sat up and leaned toward the window in annoyance. "If that idiot is using Reducto on the squirrels again…" he growled, referring to the aforementioned neighbor who had been raining down his choicest profanity on the hapless squirrels. But no more curses, magical or otherwise, was heard now. Instead, there was slightly hysterical laughter issuing from the front yard and the breathless exclamation: "We are never doing that again!"

Aaron and his father looked at each other.

"Dad, that sounded like Aunt Donna."

"Yes…"

"And didn't she go with Mum?"

"Yes."

"And doesn't that sound like Mum's laugh?" continued Aaron excitedly.

"Yep!"

Reuben sprang off the couch and ran toward the front door, Aaron at his heels. Flinging the door open, they rushed out onto the front steps where an amazing sight met their eyes.

Ari, Anna, Donna, and a strange boy were sitting down in the grass, laughing uncontrollably. Donna was trying to talk though her laughter.

"Oh, Merlin," she choked "If I ever –do that again –it will be –too soon!"

Anna had gotten somewhat more control of herself. "Did you see the look on Harrison's face just before we Apparated?" she demanded breathlessly. "That was one mad Voldemort-wannabe!" Then, looking up and catching sight of Ari's husband and son standing open-mouthed in the doorway, she burst out laughing again, and waved a hand in their general direction. "Do you see the look on their faces?"

Ari glanced over and her whole expression lit up. She scrambled up off the grass and held out her arms to her family. Aaron jumped off the porch, hurtled across the lawn, and straight into his mother's arms.

"You're safe." His voice was muffled. "You're all right. But Mum…" he continued, stepping back some and wrinkling his nose, " …you're filthy!"

Blake grinned and Ari laughed. "Aren't we all!" Her eyes twinkled as she brought Blake around in front of her. "This young man here however, is in need of about three good baths." Blake blushed and shifted from one foot to the other, looking embarrassed-but-pleased at the attention. Reuben had reached Ari by this time and had enfolded her in a huge hug. Blake managed to avoid getting squashed between them at the last moment. As Rueben began to berate Ari for undoubtably getting into trouble, Donna and Anna came over to Blake, apparently having gotten up finally. Anna leaned down to speak to him. "Donna and I are going back home for now," she said quietly. "Let Ari know, will you, please?"

Blake nodded quickly. Anna smiled reassuringly and squeezed his shoulder; then she and Donna Disapparated.

Blake turned back to Aaron who was eyeing him curiously. "What?" asked Blake nervously.

"Who are you?"

Blake gave a small laugh. "I'm Blake Winters. But you might as well ask me _what_ I am."

Aaron looked confused. "What are you then?"

Blake hesitated before answering. "I'm a werewolf."

Aaron's eyes grew wide. "No way. Really?"

Blake nodded, wondering if this boy would react the same way as his mother.

"Cool!"

Blake blinked in surprise. Well, there was that question answered.

"I've never met a werewolf before." Aaron informed him. "Are you one the nicer ones?"

"Urm, I think so."

"Well if you don't know, who would know?" joked Aaron, grinning. It was one of his favorite jokes and one his mother was exasperated with.

Blake smiled. "If I don't know, your mum would."

"You know my mum pretty well?" inquired Aaron.

"Yeah, I live at the inn where she was looking for Remus and she's always really nice."

"She's pretty good for a mum." Aaron said in an offhanded, careless way that didn't fool Blake for a second.

"She's really good for anybody." He said fervently, with a satisfied look on his face. "She punched Harrison when he was about to pound me into the floor."

"What?!" yelped Aaron "Mum punched someone? Mum!" This last was directed at his mother who was still talking to his father.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Did you actually punch someone?"

Ari smiled ruefully, "Yes, I'm afraid I did."

Reuben laughed quietly.

Aaron face was a study of delighted shock. "You punched someone!" he crowed. Turning to his dad, he exclaimed, "Guess you were right, Dad! There is more to Mum than meets the eye!"

Ari narrowed her eyes at her husband. "And what, pray tell, have you been telling him?"

Rueben patted her shoulder. "Nothing incriminating, dear, I assure you."

Ari rolled her eyes. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Well, we are standing around outside in the cold," pointed out Aaron.

"Right, right, everyone inside." Rueben shooed them toward the door. "And where did those two crazy friends of yours go, Ari?"

"They left to go home. Said for me to tell you." Blake piped up.

Reuben gave the boy a curious glance. He looked sideways at his wife and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Ari put a hand on his arm. "I'll need to talk to you once we're inside."

He sighed. "Of course."

Ari turned to Aaron as they walked through into the house. "Would you mind showing Blake to the guest room and find him something clean of yours to wear?"

"Sure, no problem, Mum. C'mon, Blake!" Aaron called as he raced for the stairs. Blake followed at a more sedate pace.

Reuben, who had been studying Blake, said quietly to Ari, "That boy is a werewolf isn't he? If you found him where Remus was living?"

Ari nodded soberly. "Yes, and that's what I need to talk to you about; about where Blake was living, and where I hope he will be able to live…"

Rueben looked like he knew what was coming, but he didn't necessarily seem to be put out by it. He followed Ari into the kitchen and shut the door on the sound of Aaron's chatter that drifted down from upstairs.

Up on the landing, Blake looked down at the closed door, wondering what was going on. And hoping that he wouldn't wake up from this really good dream he was having.

********************************************************

Back at The Moon, Remus stepped in the door and stopped dead in surprise.

"Harrison!" he said suspiciously, "What are you doing here? I was under the impression that you were going with Fenrir today."

Harrison had been sitting at the table, cleaning a long cut in his arm. The other werewolves were staying well away from him, congregating in corners of the room. When Remus entered and spoke, however, all conversation was stilled and Harrison abruptly stopped cleaning his cut. Not looking up, he growled, "We got interrupted, Lupin."

Remus looked closer at Harrison's face and noticed a deep bruise spreading along the left side of his jaw. "I'll say you did, Harrison! Who decked you that good?"

"Shut up!" snarled Harrison. He glowered at Remus, lip curling in a sneer. "For your information, Lupin, three of your little friends were here. They started this mess, not us! It's always those damn wizards. Always!" He gave Lupin a very ugly look. "An' they took the Winters kid."

Remus frowned, "What do mean, friends of mine? And who took Blake?"

Harrison smirked. "Well, now, you've got yerself a mystery, don't ya?"

"You…Where is Blake?!"

Harrison shrugged and turned back to clumsily bandaging his arm.

Remus stared furiously around the room at the others, but apparently they were all more scared of Harrison and Greyback right now, than they were of him. They all avoided his eyes and started muttering among themselves again. Clenching his teeth in frustration, Remus turned and made his way upstairs, promising himself that he would find out where Blake had been taken. And if Greyback was responsible… Remus took a deep breath and let it out in an angry hiss. Shaking his head, he slammed his door closed. Didn't he have enough to worry about already?


End file.
